Through a quirk in the tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush in 2001, the estate tax is zero in 2010 but will rise to 55 percent for all taxable estates that exceed $1 million when the cut expires on January 1, 2011.

The coming expiration of the Bush tax cuts has been a bit below the radar, but will soon surface in a very big way, as either allowing the cuts to expire or making them permanent will shock an economy still reeling and teetering at the abyss of a deeper downturn.